Rail-bender



S. V. TENCH.

RAIL BENDER.

ION FILED D I Patented Oct. 12, 1920. V3

SAMUEL v. TENCH, OFWILKEs-BARR P NNSYLVANIA;

RAIL-13FNrutn.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct- 132,1920- Application filed December 13, 1919. Serial No. 344,573.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL V. TENOH, a citizen of the United States, residing in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne county, Pennsyl- Vania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rail-Benders, of which the following is a specification.

Those forms of rail benders now on the market, with which I am familiar from having/used the same, are subject to several V disadvantages.

Inthe first place, owing to the-excessive friction and resistance developed, they generally require the services of two men to operate them, when rails of all but the light est weights arebeing treated. r-

Furthermore, the. threads of the plunger break or strip where the strain is borne in the head of the usual U-shapedframe.

In addition, the presser foot on the operating end of the plunger wears out quickly, due to the friction between the plunger and-foot,.and frequently breaks off in bending operations, because of its improper relation to the. plunger.

The objects of my invention are to reduce or minimize the friction heretofore developed in the operation of rail benders now on the market, whereby a single operator can readily manipulate the bender in work 'ing' uponrails of any usual weight; to" so.

assemble the plunger and its presser" foot Y that the breakage of a foot or of a plunger can readily be repaired by substituting-a that no strain in a direction axially of the plunger is sustained by the means which new part for the broken one without neces-..

sitating the discard of the entire plunger and foot; and to so proportion the. parts connects the plunger and presser'foot for relative rotation. v

Still other objects, among which is the reduction in wear betweenthe parts, will be'more fully explained hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a Fig 2 is a longitudinal sectional view,

through the presser foot and a part of the plunger; 1

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, showing one means for connecting the foot and plunger for relatlve rotatlon;

7 rail b enderequipped' with my'invention;

Fig. 4; is a detail sectional view of an antifriction bearing; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view, show ifng the means connecting the plunger and oot.

In effecting my inventiomlemploy the usual substantially U-shaped frame, formed of opposed arms or branches 1 diverging from a head 2. The free ends of the arms or branches carry hooks or lips 3, to engage the flange of the rail to be bent, it being understood that th'e device isequally applicable'for forming curves in rails andfor straightening curved or bent rails.

.. The head 2 is bored and threaded in the" usual manner to accommodate the screw plunger 4, which may be turned'in either, dlrectlon by any convenient means, as-by a cross bar 5.

- The plunger 4 extends into the space empresser foot 6, and it is herein that myinbraced between the arms 1, and carries a vention resides. i

The, inner end of the presser' foot 6 is axially recessed, as at 7, to form a socket,

and the operating endof the plunger 4 is reduced, as at 8, and entered in the socket in the presser foot.

I i-order to relieve the friction which would bedeveloped by the rotation 0f the inner end of the reduced portion 8 of the plunger against the bottom of the socket 7,

I interpose a reversible antifriction bearing between suchinner end and the bottom of the socket.

Conveniently, the antifric-- tion bearing may includea pair of opposed races 9;, 9, between which are confined the:

rolls or balls 10,the lower racebeing seated 7 upon the'bottom of this socket and the inner.

end of the reducedportion 8f, resting against the upperrace. a

-The antifriction-bearing thus forms a thrust-sustaining member for the plunger, and permits an unobstructed rotation of'the latter relatively to the presser foot." A bolt or other fastening means 11 passes axially) through the races 9, 9, to securethem toether' against accidental separation, and to t) hold the balls in' place, and converts the bearing into; aunitary element which-' is readily dropped into and loosely seated 1n the socket 7 prior tov the insertion of the reduced end 8 therein, and as easily removed after the withdrawal of the reduced end 8.

The bearing is made reversible to-present a new thrust-sustainlng surface to the reduced end of the plunger, if necessary.

The depth of the socket7, the lengthrofi the reduced portion 8, and the thickness of the antifriction bearing are so related that the shoulder 12, formed at the juncture of.

the reduced portion: 8 with the threaded portionof the plunger 4, is spaced apart from the upper end of the socket to form a clearance, as shown in Fig, 2, whereby to eliminate friction between the rotatable plunger 4 and the-stationary presser foot 6 at this'point. V r

The provision of the antifrictionbearing between the plunger and presser foot du'cesthe resistance and strain dueto friction, to' aminimum, and to such extent, relieves-the strain sustained by the threads ofthe plunger-inengagement with the head 2,1to thereby reduce the dangerof breakage at this point.

across :the groove 13.

f This permits relative rotation between the 7 plunger and presser foot, and to relieve the taper pin or-cotter of any stiainiexerted by the plunger when the device is in use,"

- prefer to locate the passage 14 :at such a point abo've the upper ball race '9, and also, so locate thegroovelS a't such a distance from the inner end of the reduced portion 8 "of-the plunger 4-, that when such inner end of the reduced portion'8 rests on the upper race, the groove willbe located in the-same *plane with thepassage 14, the

groove-being sufiiciently larger in diameter than the diameter of the pin 15 to permit a slight endw-ise movement of the plunger and the socket relutively to each other, "to compensate for such slight wear as may take place, without bringing the upper wall of the :groove 13 into intimate contact with the pin l5 when the device is in use.

Should itbecomenecessar-y to disassemble e the device for inspectlon, lubricat on, or

the repla'cement of brokenparts, it is readily accomplished by simplydriving out the taper or cotter pin 15, after iwhich the presser foot 6 is slid ofi :the ire'duced .end

of the plunger 4, and by inverting the :fOOt, the bearing drops 'outof the socket 7 dffthe'fhalls arebroken, removal of the V stitute new ones therefor,

bolt '11 will enable the'operator to separate the races, remove the broken balls andsub- Should either theplungeror the foot be broken, new parts may, be readily subst tuted for the old parts without discarding the entire plunger and foot, and with a" 7 minimum of labor. 1

The sole '16 of the presser foot, may-be provided withan-arcuate recess, as shown, V e to embrace and grip the edge of the tread 7 of the rail and thus prevent rotation of" '7 the foot when the device is "in operation, the

high 'point of the arcuate groove lying in substantial alinement with the axisofthe plunger to focus the pressure within as small a compasses possiblewithout develop-- ing a tendency to crack oribreak the rail at that point. Changes may arrangement of the several parts iset'gforth without departing from the spirit scope of this invention. 7 a V lVhatgI claimvas'new, is j In a'rail "bender,.thecombination :with a bifurcated vframe having a head; 'aithreaded' plunger passing through the head into the space iembraced between the arms'ioif the bifurcated frame; and :means to .:turn the be made-in the form we olun er .in .either direction ioiffla resser foot having .a socket tfOIIIlBCi in its inner end; 'thekarms and the sole of the :foot

adapted to engage 'the material to be treated ytheoperating endzof-rt-he plungerbeing reducedandienteredinthe socket in'the foot; a 161I1OVfl bl6,:QIltLfIlOlSlOllbGtTlIlg'IeStk ing loosely on ithezhottom-of the socket, and

forming a thrust i bea'ring +fo'r theend of i i the reduced portion of therplungen; theire-' duced portion having acircumferential v groove; thesocketed portion of the foot 5 terse'cting; the socket; a fastening'pin ofrless diameter than the 1 diameter of Tthe groove. and adapted ;to extend through the tan-o gential passage, and tangentially along portion :of the circumferential -groove,gto-' releasably conneetithe foot and plunger for 1.10

relative rotation, :the length of the reduced; portion of ,the plunger, jthe thicknesS ofithe,

antifrietion bearing and (the idepthl ofrthe" socket being so proportioned;that.ithe-=walls V of: the circumferential groove clear: the fastening pm toavold strain thereon in.-;a,id-irec- 1 tion axially of-{the plunger, the thicknessv of the antifriction Ibearing OperatingtO space the iinnerl end of the socket apartfroiri the shoulder yformed '@by reducing the i plunger, to eliminateffrictionatithatgpoint. 

